this is the only kingdom
by petrovaphile
Summary: A short one-shot featuring a glimpse of Damon and Elena's life after finding peace. Post-8x16. Finale spoilers.


Peace isn't any one thing.

Malleable, soft, and good, peace takes on whatever form you need it to. Never looking quite the same depending on who is finding peace, the afterlife becomes the beautiful faces of those you once lost. Peace is found in the soft breeze brushing across your skin without ever having to grow cold for it. In the lack of worries every time the morning greets you.

Time no longer has meaning when you're truly eternal, after all.

Today, peace for Elena Salvatore is the soothing rush of water in the kitchen sink as she washes the dishes to prepare for a big outdoor lunch with her family. It's the sight of Stefan and Damon's broad grins as they toss a football back and forth on the grassy lawn, Elena watching them fondly from the window. She doesn't have to squint to look out into the sun, because there's only warmth, and it never blinds.

An endless warmth she feels right down to her toes.

Youthful Damon is a sight to behold again, for Elena. She'd never forgotten how attractive he was, and he never _stopped_ being attractive regardless of their aging process, but this is how she met him: inky black hair, stunning and piercing blue eyes, and a frame that's somehow strong and lean all at once. Is it possible to fall in love all over again in the afterlife?

If anyone can manage it, it's Damon and Elena.

When she and Stefan parted, he expressed a desire for Elena to meet the person Damon had become. The Damon who was once his brother. And she did, in every way possible, except one. She wasn't fully able to appreciate 'Damon the brother' without Stefan there, though his presence remained with both of them every single day of their lives. She gets to appreciate it now, in the adulation that's written all over Stefan's face and Damon's lazy teasing.

Stefan is throwing the football at his big brother, but a wild Jenna appears to intercept, snagging the football and running away with it.

"Looks like someone is being won over," Miranda comments with amusement.

Elena wonders if her chest will ever stop constricting whenever she hears her mother's voice or her father's booming laugh. She wonders until wondering ceases to matter. What matters is she gets to hear them at all. Everyone is together again, and nothing hurts.

"Do you think _she_ knows that?" Elena asks, mirroring her mother's amusement. It's no secret Jenna was skeptical of Damon when they first met, but it's different here. Jenna gives Damon a hard time in a way that is nothing short of familial, and if Damon at his worst made it hard for people to hate him, Damon at his best guarantees it's impossibility. Stefan once used the words sweet and earnest to describe Damon as a human. The truth is, Elena thinks she got the best of both worlds. As her husband, he certainly had his sweet moments, and was earnest and loyal to a fault. He was also sexy and incorrigible, maintaining all the parts of him Elena first fell for.

Theirs was, and continues to be, a happy marriage.

But standing beside Miranda Gilbert, Elena can't help a small bout of worry coursing through her, even in peace. The person she became after her parents died, the person who fell in love with vampires and did questionable things to ensure their survival — Elena constantly worried that person would be a disappointment to them.

As always, Miranda seems to read her mind well, and knows just what Elena needs to hear. She places a hand on Elena's upper arm, and leans in to press a kiss to Elena's growing hair. "I'm proud of you."

Just like that, Elena finds her peace once more.

Their stomachs full and their hearts similarly so, everyone scatters off after their late lunch for the remainder of the day. She last saw Damon speaking to Liz, his favorite sheriff of them all, and she gives them some much needed bonding time. After that, Damon will undoubtedly go spend more time with Stefan, the way Elena will spend time with John and her parents, each of them wanting to soak up their loved ones as much as possible. They both understand the other's need for peace with their families, with the understanding that they are also family, and when the night falls, they'll find each other again, the way they always do.

Lo and behold, no sooner the moon slips out into the night sky Elena is spotting Damon. He's at the Gilbert porch, sitting on one of the two rocking chairs they themselves put there once Damon rebuilt the house for her. Elena moves toward him, intent on filling up the seat next to him, but Damon has other plans.

His arm snakes out to wrap around her waist, tugging her onto his lap instead. She sinks into it with the ease of someone who has quite literally spent an entire lifetime with him, already knowing where and how she fits best. Her head settles onto his shoulder and she breathes him in, the tip of her nose pressing to his neck. He sways them gently, back and forth, playing with her hair all the while, and it's all so comforting she almost falls asleep right then and there.

That's the thing about spending your whole life married to someone. You learn all their secrets, you can finish their sentences even when you choose not to, and you engaged in so many conversations that sometimes all you want is to be with them in the quiet.

Their breathing is all that can be heard in the warmth of the night, their heartbeats aligning. He nuzzles her neck and she sighs into his cheek. This, too, is a conversation.

"I'm still waiting, you know."

Damon feigns ignorance, making a noncommittal sound as his thumb traces her knuckles. He leans in to press a kiss to the tip of each and every finger, and she melts. "I have no idea what you're going on about."

"Daaaaa-mon."

"Elena."

"Damon!"

"Elena, if this is your way of propositioning me, need I remind you there are impressionable people present." People he still needs to win over completely.

Except John. Damon's still 'eh' about John and vice versa, afterlife or no.

Her lips purse into a helpless smile, thumb tucking itself into the corner of his mouth. He's impossible, she thinks, and he also isn't wrong, even if that's not what she was referring to. Everyone is sleeping close by, but the afterlife doesn't suddenly make her want him any less. She's not sure anything could. They defied every odd, and she suspects they'll continue to do so.

"You can say it. You won't strain yourself."

She pulls back, emphasizing each word. "You. Were. Right. Elena."

A quiet chuckle fills the air, not without a groaning element to it.

Elena's eyebrows arch upward expectantly, and Damon's grimace shifts into an expression so wondrous that it nearly takes her breath away. It's like he's reliving it all over again: that moment he found Stefan again.

He tugs her in further, touching his forehead to hers. "You were right, Elena."

There is peace, even for the likes of Damon Salvatore. He saw Stefan again, and they'll all be together for the rest of eternity. Stefan and Damon both at different points brought her back to life when she felt dead inside. Now they _are_ dead and here she is, coming back to life again.

She was right in more ways than one, too.

This life was good and it was beautiful. It was not without heartache. Throughout it all, this one constant affirmation: she was right to believe in this man.


End file.
